Snap-acting bimetal thermostat



' rating my invention.

Patented Oct. 21, 1952 'SNA-ACTING BIMETAL THERMOSTAT PaulR. Lee, Mansfield, Ohio, assigner to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Eennsylvania Application September 19, 1947, Serial No. 774,949

1c claims. (ci. cosmico) 'This application is a continuation-in-part of my application, Serial No. 705,083-led October .23, 1946, now abandoned.

vMy invention yrelates to a snap-acting thermostat.

One object of my invention is to provide a snap-acting thermostat which effects, for a given lin the yopen position, which stop resiliently engages such element-or member instead of forming 'ia positive stop or abutment therefor.' At` the moment that such element or member snaps to open position, the force or stress tending to move the same to open position is at maximum, `since 'such stress is developed Yby temperature change to veffect the snap action. Such stress overcomes vthe spring force of the resilient stop and causes wide contact. separation at such time. This stress decreases as the temperature changes in f [the opposite direction so that the spring force of -said resilient stop serves to move said temperature-responsive element or said member in closing direction, so that it will snap toclosed position at the desired temperature. f

lThe invention may be utilized to Vprovide 'greater current interrupting capacity for a given temperature differential. On the other hand, it may be utilized to provide a lower temperature differential, since the wider contact .separation obtained upon opening movement permits adjustment of the resilient stop to provide a smaller gap at the moment of closing. Thenagain, it may be utilized, as in a preferred embodiment, to provide both of these results, each to a lesser degree; that is, a thermostat having rsomewhat greater contact separation and somewhat smaller temperature differential thany a comparable thermostat having rigid stops.

These 'and other objects are eiected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of a thermostat incorpo- 1i`gs..2,"3"and 4 are'longitudinal sectional views taken on the line II--II of Fig. f1, Figure `2`show- Ting .the thermostat in theA closed position, Figure .3 ,showing the .same immediately after the thermostat has snapped .to .the open position, Vand vFigure 4 showing the same just ready to snap .to

the .closed position; and .n `Fig. 5 is a transverse sectiontaken on theline V-V of Fig. 2. y

In the illustrated embodiment, an inherently snap-acting bimetal element constitutes the contact actuating member, the temperature-responsive means and the snap-acting means. This element is shown in the present embodiment in the form of a, strip I0, which is formed with'two slots I I dividing the strip intca center leg I2, twoouter legs I3, a stationary end portion It and movable end portions I5. The outer legs I3 are distorted or crimped as indicated at/I 6 thereby placing the outer legs'intension and imposing a compression force upon the center leg I2, to provide the snap action. A rigid member il, which is of T-shape as shownin Figure 1,*is attached to thebimetal eiement,"the transverse portion ythereof being secured to the end portion I3 by two'rivets I8 and the longitudinal portion being secured v"to the adjacent portion of the center leg I2 Aby a `rivet I3. The member Ilserves to holdthexedend 'It and the portion of the center leg I2 adjacent thereto fiat and stationary, so'that deection of the bimetal element caused by temperature change effects movements of the oppositeendl.

The bimetal elementis mounted on a support 2l by means of a spring member 23, whichissecured to the bimetal element by the two rivets at i8 and which is also secured to an upstanding portion 22 of the support 2 I. The spring 23 biases the bimetal element downwardly. The member I1 is formed with a depending 'fiange 24, and ya temperature-adjusting screw 25, screw threaded 1in the upstanding portion 22 of the support, bearsffaga-inst the ange 24 in opposition to the force of the spring-23 to vary the angular position of the member I'I and the stationary end of the 'bimetal element.

The bimetal element'carries one or more movable contacts which cooperate with one or more stationary contacts carried by the support 2|. In the yillustrated embodiment, two stationary contacts .2t are mounted onthe support 2|. Two movable 'contacts `2l connected by a bridging 'member 28,'are adapted to engage thecontacts 25 to complete the circuit therebetween. The bridging member', is provided Withears-that extend through and are rockable in slctsin the arms ci a yoke 29, which is vattached to the movable end I5 of the bimetal element Iii, but is insulated therefrom in a manner wellunderstood kin the yart. The stationary contacts 25'form a stop limiting the movement of the bimetal element in downward or contact closing direction.

The resilient stop iimitingthe movement of the binietaleiement incpening direction rcomprises, in this embodiment, a spring arm"3 Ii and va set screw 32. rEhe spring arm 3l is fastened to the support 2l by means of a screw 33. The set screw 32 is adjustable relative to the spring arm 3l and held in adjusted position by means of a nut 34.

The bimetal element l is constructed so that it has a relatively wide inherent temperature differential, That is, if its movement were not limited by stops, the difference between the temperature at which it snaps to the opposite position would be relatively high. However, to reduce the temperature differential, the movement of the bimetal element is limited by stops, and in order to provide for temperature adjustment, the stops are movable relative to the bimetal element. In the present embodiment, temperature adjustment of the thermostat is effected by changing the angular position of the bimetal element by means of the adjusting screw 25, thereby simultaneously adjusting the bimetal element relative to both stops and thereby adjusting both the opening and the closing temperature.

Operation In the present embodiment, the bimetal ele- -ment l0 moves downwardly to close the contacts in response to decrease in temperature, and moves upwardly in response to increase in temperature to open the contacts, the metal on the f lower side having the greater coefficient of expansion. Figure 2 shows the contacts in closed position following a decrease in temperature. The resilient stop is not deected and is spaced from the bimetal element l0. As the temperature to which the bimetal element l0 is subjected increases, as usually occurs following closing of the contacts, the metal on the lower side of the element expands at a higher rate than the metal on the upper side, thereby building up a stress to move the bimetal element upwardly. As the stress exceeds the forces resisting the same, it causes the bimetal element to bow upwardly,

this taking place with a snap action. The upward stress overcomes the spring force of the spring arm 3l, which is deflected as shown in Figure 3, thereby providing a wide gap between the stationary contacts 26 and the movable contacts 21, as shown in Fig. 2.

As the temperture imposed on the bimetal element ID decreases, the upward stress caused by differential expansion decreases, so that the spring force of the spring arm 3l becomes effective to move the bimetal element downwardly until it reaches the position shown in Figure 4,

where the gap between the contacts has been substantially reduced. In this position, the bimetal element is forced to a position near its snap-over position, so that it will snap over more readily; in other words, its closing temperature is raised. Upon further decrease in temperature, the bimetal element will again snap to closed position.

To raise or lower the temperature setting of the thermostat, the bimetal element ID is raised or lowered, respectively, this being effected by turning the adjusting screw 25 to turn the member l1 and the bimetal element l0 angularly about the spring member 23. Since the bimetal element is similarly adjusted relative to both stops, both the opening and the closing temperatures are similarly adjusted, with the temperature diiferential remaining substantially the same.

The temperature differential may be varied by adjusting the set screw 32 relative to the stationary contacts or stop, the screw being moved away Lif therefrom to increase the diferential and toward the same to decrease the differential.

The resilient stop is spaced from the bimetal element when the latter is in closed position, so as not to affect the opening temperature, which is determined by the closed position stop, in this case the stationary contacts. If the resilient stop did engage the bimetal element in closed position, it would raise the opening temperature.

I have found that the best results are obtained when there is provided a spring arm 3| which has substantially the same pressure-defiection curve that the bimetal element itself has when in the open position. For example, upon testing one specific bimetal, it was found that, after it had snapped to the open position, it required 0.4 ounce increase in pressure to advance it for every one mill deflection. Accordingly, a exible spring stop having the same characteristic, namely, 0.4 ounce change in pressure for each mill of deflection, was used and was found to give results which were excellent and which were better than obtained with a stop which is either weaker or stronger.

In one series of tests, a thermostat in accordance with the present invention and having a flexible stop, was tested. The flexible stop was then replaced by a rigid stop which was adjusted to the same position as the flexible stop in its undeected position, as shown in Fig. 2, that is, its position when the thermostat -is in closed position. For a given temperature adjustment, the opening temperature was the same, since it is determined by the contacts which constitute the closed position stop. As to the closing temperature, however, it was found that the bimetal element snapped to closed posit-ion at an earlier point in the cycle; in other words, it snapped to closed position at a higher temperature and with a larger gap between the contacts, thus providing a smaller temperature diierential. This is an unexpected result, inasmuch as with a larger gap, the temperature differential would be expected to be greater. The only explanation for this action of the resilient stop that occurs to me is that possibly the inertia of movement produced by the resilient stop causes the bimetal to continue its movement towards closed position.

The present invention, therefore, for a given gap between the open position or resilient stop and the bimetal, provides greater contact separation both at the time of opening and just before closing, and also provides a smaller temperature differential. Accordingly, the present invention may be utilized to provide greater current carrying capacity. On the other hand, it may be utilized to provide a still smaller temperature diierential for a given current interrupting capacity by adjusting the resilient stop towards the other stop, this being permissible since the yielding of the resilient stop provides the desired contact separation upon opening movement.

While I have shown my invent-ion in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

l. A thermostat comprising a. support, an inherently snap acting bimetal thermal element mounted thereon, a contact carried by a movable portion of said bimetal element, a stationary contact mounted on said support cooperating with said first contact and serving to limit the movement of said bimetal element in contactanimos 5 closing directions-andresilients'p `means mounted on said support in-suchpositionas :to engage said bimetal element upon movement in contactf opening direction. and biasingv the same in contact-closing' direction to raise the contact-closf ing temperature, said resilient stop means havfing Ysubstantially `the same pressure-'deflection ycihjaract'eristic Y* that said bimetal element vhas when it` iseincontact-opening positiony'and the yrovementof said resilient stopmeansfbeing limlite'drso that it does not engage said bimetal element when the latter is in contact-closing position.

2. A snap-acting thermostat comprising a supporting structure, a snap-acting bimetallic element including a center leg and two outer legs and end portions joining the respectively adjacent ends of said legs, a rigid member attached member against the bias of said spring, and a stop carried by said supporting structure on one side of said bimetal element adjacent the opposite end thereof and adapted to limit movement thereof in one direction, said adjustable member being adapted to adjust said bimetallic element relative to said stop to vary the temperature at which said bimetaiiic element snaps away from said stop.

3. A snap-acting thermostat comprising a surpporting structure, a snap-acting bimetallic element including ya, center leg and two outer legs and end portions joining the respectively adjacent ends of said legs, a rigid member attached to said center leg and to one end portion but not to the outer legs nor the other end portion, a spring member attached to said supporting structure and to said rigid member for hingedly connecting the same 'and biasing the latter in one n herentiy snap acting vloimetal thermal element mounted thereon, a contact carried by a movable portion of said bimetal element, a stationary contact mounted on said support cooperating with said first contact and serving to limit the movement of said bime'tal element in contact-closing direction, and a resilient stop biasing said bimetal element in contact-closing direction when said element is in open position, said resilient stop having substantially the same pressure-deflection characteristic that said bimetal element has when it is in open position.

5. A thermostat as set forth in claim 4 wherein the resilient stop is not deflected and is spaced from the bimetal element when the latter is in its closed position.

on said support, a first andaresilientstop mounted ,en saidsupport and radaptedto .abut opposite vsides of the movablezportion of said .bimetaleiement to limit the movement thereof, the resilient stopI being disposed inf spaced Irelationfto "said movable portion whenfthelatter engages-,therst stop, and vmeans/for .adjusting said bimetal elementirelative to said-vrst 4andrresilient stops to vary thetemp'erature setting* of the` thermostat without altering the relation of said first and said resilient stop to each other, whereby, at all temperature settings, said movable portion is spaced from and free of the infiuence of said resilient stop when it engages the iirst stop.

7. A thermostat as set forth in claim 6 wherein said rst stop is a stationary electrical contact and said movable portion carries a cooperating movable contact adapted to engage the stationary contact upon movement of said movable portion in the direction toward said stationary contact.

8. A thermostat as set forth in claim 6 wherein said resilient stop has substantially the same pressure-deflection characteristics that said bimetal element has when it is out of engagement with the rst stop.

9. A thermostat comprising a support, a bimetal temperature responsive element formed to change from one position to another with a snap action and mounted on said support, a pair of cooperating contacts, said bimetal element moving one of said contacts into engagement and disengagement with the -other with a snap action, the thermostat having a stop mounted on said support for engaging the bimetal element in the contact closed position to determine the opening temperature of the thermostat, a resilient stop mounted on said support in a position to bias said bimetal element in contact closing direction when it is in open position but spaced from and exerting no bias thereon when it is in the closed position, whereby said resilient stop permits wide contact separation when the bimetal element snaps to open position and gradually moves said bmetal element toward closing position, as its stress in opening direction decreases, to determine the closing temperature of the thermostat, and means for adjusting said temperature responsive element relative to said support and said stops to thereby simultaneously vary both the opening and the closing temperature while the relation of the stop-s to each other remains constant and provides substantially constant temperature differential for different temperature adjustments.

10. A snap-acting thermostat vcomprising a 'supporting structure, a snap-acting bimetal element including a center leg and two outer legs and end portions joining the respective adjacent ends of said legs, a mounting member attached to one end portion at two points spaced transversely of said element and in alignment with said two outer legs respectively and also attached to said center leg at a point spaced a substantial distance from both ends thereof. said mounting member not being attached to the other end portion nor to the outer legs for a distance extending from said `other end portion toward the first-mentioned end portion a substantial distance beyond said point of attachment to said center leg, a resilient or spring portion hingedly connecting said mounting member to said supporting structure and biasing said mounting member inone direction about the hinge provided by the spring portion, an adjustable member abutting said mounting member against the bias of said spring portion, and a stop carried by said supporting structure on one side of said b- 5 metal element adjacent the opposite end thereof and adapted to limit movement thereof in one direction, said adjustable member being adapted to adjust said bimetal element relative to said stop to vary the temperature at which said bi 10 2,360,723

metal element snaps away from said stop.

` PAUL R. LEE.

8 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this lpatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

